Windsor Historical Society volunteer Becky Hendricks puts baking powder in a glass container in the newly-renovated pantry at the Strong Howard House. After a $750,000 renovation, all of the rooms in the Strong Howard House, appear as though they would have in 1810. (Brad Horrigan / Hartford Courant)

WINDSOR — The Strong-Howard House is finally finished. And its owners want everyone to come visit. And touch stuff.

"Please touch and please ask questions," Christina Vida, curator for the Windsor Historical Society, said as she stood in the house's "keeping room," the last room to be completed and transformed to the way it looked in the year 1810.

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The room, which includes a working hearth where the Howard family cooked its meals, took about 10 months to complete at a cost of about $200,000. It will reopen to the public Sunday, Oct. 4, from 1 to 4 p.m. All tours will be free that day.

The bulk of the work focused on the hearth, which was previously a 1954 "period inappropriate" fireplace, Vida said. The new-old version includes a beehive oven where the family would bake breads, pies and pudding.

"The work of the family was happening here," Vida said.

The room also includes reproductions of furniture and other items from the era, including a table and chairs where the family would play games, and a large linen chest.

The reopening is the culmination of a nearly three-year, three-phase project for which the historical society raised more than $700,000 from charitable foundations including the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving and Connecticut Humanities, the town of Windsor and 230 individual donors.

"That's an amazing indicator of community support," said Christine Ermenc, executive director of the historical society.

For Ermenc, the key was to reproduce the typical family furnishings in the house rather than filling it with antiques that visitors could look at but couldn't touch.

"Erasing barriers," Ermenc said. "That's what I wanted."

Visitors will be able to cook at the hearth, sit at the dinner table, try on clothes, lie in the canopied bed, and entertain in the parlor the way the Howard family would have in 1810.

"We want people to come in and engage with the objects," Vida said. "Reset the table, have some tea in the parlor. Explore in the pantry."

Now that it is completed, Ermenc said the society hopes the house gets plenty of visits. Future plans include renting it to groups for events, and forming a cooking club, Ermenc said.

"We really think this could be a regional attraction," Vida said.

The Windsor Historical Society is located at 98 Palisado Ave. For information, call 860-688-3813.